Watermark Hotel & Waves Restaurant, Surfers Paradise

Our next stop after a day in Brisbane was Surfers Paradise in the Gold Coast. I had booked for 3 nights at the Watermark Hotel which is supposedly 4.5 stars. Compared to my experiences at the Metro Hotel Tower Mill in Brisbane just earlier, this place was like heaven. The entrance of the lobby was huge - with a very high ceiling and friendly concierge, even a Japanese guests counter to serve the ever growing number of Japanese tourists in the area. When I asked at the reception for directions, they were very helpful and even showed me to the bus stop outside. Now that is service.

I also liked their decorations and furniture which had a modern yet comfortable feel.

The room we stayed in was a standard room with 2 queen size beds. I rolled around in both of them as soon as I put my bags down :D. The beds were really soft and I liked the pillows. The carpet and beds were really clean which is hugely important for me.

The bathroom was clean as well, although it seemed a little worn out. For some reason I didn't like the colour combination in it which may have contributed to the 'worn-out' look. The shampoo and conditioner were (eucalyptus and lemongrass) refreshing and aromatic - I like :D.

The view from the room was nice even though we were facing the wrong side - not towards the beach. There was still plenty of water to be seen, from the sky as well since it rained on nearly all the days I was there :(. I sure have bad luck sometimes.

The hotel was about a block away from the beach and only a short stroll to the busy city centre where all the food, night clubs and entertainment were. I only managed to walk along the beach on the last day we were in the Gold Coast because the other days were taken up by eating and visiting Seaworld and Movieworld. Luckily enough, the weather cleared up just as I was taking photos so I managed to catch some with a bit of blue sky.

We had buffet dinner one night in the Waves Restaurant for $49 pp just downstairs. It's interesting how most buffets I have had were during hotel stays, it just seems customary to do so.

Waves Restaurant serves Indian, Mediterranean, Asian and seafood cuisines. The limited variety of food on offer quickly made me bored and decided to eat mostly oysters for the night. The oysters were fresh, almost melted in my mouth and smelt deliciously like the sea. I tried to mix it up by making a batch with wasabi and soy sauce and then with lemon juice and the thousand island dressing. The Indian dishes were quite yummy though, especially the naan which were freshly made in a proper tandoor by an Indian chef right in front of us.

There was a reasonably large selection of desserts which I was pleased with. Pretty cakes and mousses are a few of my favourite things to eat (and photograph) and as a bad habit, I always grab LOTS in one go and eventually make myself very very bloated. The rationale always is "what if the cake I want gets taken by someone else and they run out?" As you can see from my plate, I had a hard time finishing them even with Yuye's help. :P

They also had a coffee machine where we could self serve proper coffee from. The coffee used in the machine was not bad, but wasn't the most important thing on my mind at that time - it was finishing the desserts I took of course. Wasting food is a big no no for any foodie.

Despite the tasty naan and desserts, I felt $49 per person was slightly expensive for the limited variety we got though.

The second morning in Surfers Paradise, we decided to have breakfast in Waves as well since there weren't that many restaurants close by and we were in a hurry to catch the bus (I always tend to sleep in when I shouldn't). Yuye got the smoked salmon omelette with baked tomatoes and hash browns and I just got mixed pastries with jams. The smoked salmon omelette wasn't as good as it looked, it lacked flavour and was a bit overcooked. My pastries were good though and I was given a nice variety of jams to compliment them. :)

Waves Restaurant is situated inside the Watermark Hotel and can only be accessed via the front lobby (the back entrance requires guest swipe-in). It isn't exactly in the most fantastic location so seemed a little lonely dining there. I would imagine most of the patrons were also guests at the hotel. Urbanspoon doesn't even know about its existence so it seems I'll have to make another addition to its big family. :D

Watermark Hotel
Phone: (07) 5588 8333
3032 Surfers Paradise Boulevard, Surfers Paradise QLD 4217
http://www.watermarkhotelgoldcoast.com.au

Waves Restaurant
Phone: (07) 5588 8304
Address as above

For more reviews, visit Tripadvisor.

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